Follow-up Discourse

The teacher can follow-up the game with classroom dialogue about the students’ decision to accept, reject, or withhold judgment about the claim and why. Using the attached rubric, students can assess their understanding of the process. The students should have the opportunity to review and provide input on the rubric and have it available for self-assessment after the discussion.


The rubric should be used as a formative assessment process to:

• Checking for understanding and encouraging metacognition, and
• Demonstrating understanding.

Students should be encouraged to self-assess their understanding of the process of argumentation. The rubric can be used as a strategy for collaboration during which students can reflect on each others' argumentation skills and learning.

Title: Reason Racer Argumentation Rubric (Middle/High School)
Description: A rubric in student language used by middle school students to create an argument that meets high standards of quality.
Keywords: Communication, evidence, reasoning, claim, viewpoint, audience, discourse
Instructions: Use this rubric to self-assess your ability to create and defend your own argument or the argument of others in order to accept, reject or withhold a decision about the claim it makes.

	4	3	2	1	Score
Evidence	I can identify evidence as data, fact, opinion or theory.	I can usually identify evidence as data, fact, opinion or theory.	I can identify some types of evidence but need help with others.	I have difficulty identifying types of evidence.
Claim	I can state a claim that clearly expresses a position on a topic or can identify when someone else has done this.	I can usually state a claim that expresses a position on a topic or can identify when someone else has done this.	With help, I state a claim that expresses a position on a topic or can identify when someone else has done this.	I confuse claims with other types of statements.
Qualifier	I can clearly identify and use a single word or phrase as a qualifier to limit my claim or can identify when someone else has done this.	I can usually identify a qualifier to limit my claim or recognize a qualifier used by someone else.	I sometimes have difficulty identifying a qualifier, but I know what they are.	I do not understand how to use a qualifier in a claim or recognize one when used by someone else.
Quality of Evidence	I can evaluate the quality of evidence for such things as validity, reliability, objectivity/bias or controlled experiment.	I can usually evaluate the quality of evidence for such things as validity, reliability, objectivity/bias or controlled experiment.	I can sometimes evaluate the quality of some of the evidence, but not always.	I do not understand how to evaluate the quality of evidence.
Chain of Reasoning	I use theory, authority or logic in a chain of reasoning to clearly support a claim or can recognize when someone else has done this.	I can usually identify a chain of reasoning, but I may not know for sure which type reasoning was used.	I understand the need for the identifying the chain of reasoning, but have difficulty explaining it.	I do not understand how to use theory, authority or logic to support a chain of reasoning.
Quality of Reasoning	I can accurately evaluate the quality of a chain of reasoning using logic, strength of authority or correct application of scientific theory.	I can usually evaluate the quality of a chain of reasoning using logic, strength of authority or correct application of scientific theory.	I understand the need for the chain of reasoning but I may not be able to clearly explain the quality as logic, authority or correct application of scientific theory.	I do not understand how to explain a chain of reasoning.
Challenges to the Claim	I can accurately identify challenges to a claim as counter arguments, rebuttals, or new questions.	I can usually identify challenges to a claim as counter arguments, rebuttals, or new questions.	I understand there are types of challenges to a claim, but may not be sure as to whether they are counter arguments, rebuttals, or new questions.	I do not understand how to identify challenges to a claim.
Conclusion & Explanation	I can accept, reject or withhold a decision about a claim and provide an explanation based on relevant evidence from reliable sources.	I can accept, reject or withhold a decision about a claim and usually provide an explanation based on evidence.	I can accept, reject or withhold a decision about a claim but sometimes have difficulty with an explanation.	I can accept, reject or withhold a decision about a claim but do not provide an explanation.
Total Score

Download the rubric as a word document and edit to meet your needs. ()

Created for The Evidence Game Project at the University of Kansas. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.